Wells Fargo reports mixed 3Q results
Wells Fargo & Co. reported mixed earnings Friday, with better-than-expected revenue but profit that fell short of analysts' expectations.
The San Francisco finance giant was one of three major U.S. banks to report earnings, and investors are watching the banks closely for signs about the health of the U.S. economy amid a week of stock-market turbulence leading up to this quarter's earnings season.
Competitors JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. both reported results that topped Wall Street estimates.
Wells Fargo reported third-quarter revenue of $21.9 billion; analysts predicted revenue of $21.8 billion, which was in line with last year's third quarter. But the bank's earnings per share of $1.13, a marked improvement over the same quarter last year, didn't meet expectations. Analysts surveyed by data provider FactSet had expected earnings of $1.19 a share. The bank's profits totaled $6 billion, up 32 percent over last year's third quarter.
JPMorgan, the nation's largest bank, reported earnings of $8.38 billion, or $2.34 per share, for the quarter, both ahead of analysts' expectations, according to FactSet.
Citigroup, which also released results Friday, reported better-than-expected earnings for the quarter. The bank reported earnings of $1.73 a share, beating analysts' expectations of $1.68. Revenue of $18.4 billion was in line with expectations.
-- Los Angeles Times
Mnuchin: Trump words not Fed attack
WASHINGTON -- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Friday that President Donald Trump respects the independence of the Federal Reserve and the president's recent comments were simply a reflection of the fact that he favors low interest rates.
"The president has been clear," Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC. "He likes low interest rates."
Mnuchin, who praised Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, said the president understands that the Fed is doing its job.
Trump this week has blamed the market's big sell-off on the Fed's interest rate increases, saying "the Fed is out of control." But Mnuchin disputed that Trump's comments represented an attack on the Fed.
"He doesn't feel the need to attack at all," Mnuchin said.
Mnuchin said he viewed the market turbulence as a "natural correction after the markets were up a lot" rather than a sharp plunge triggered by bad news on the economy.
-- The Associated Press
Sky CEO gets millions in Comcast deal
Sky Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Darroch will take home as much as $50 million after steering the British pay-TV company into the arms of Comcast Corp.
The 56-year-old sold his 775,772 shares in Sky worth $17.6 million to the U.S. cable giant as it prepares to complete the $39 billion takeover, according to a filing Friday. Darroch will also cash in on previously awarded bonus shares.
Sky's value soared during a protracted bidding war involving Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox, Walt Disney Co. and Comcast that was settled by an auction last month.
Darroch, the grandson of a miner, was already one of the best paid CEOs in Britain, earning $51 million in the last three years. He helped build Sky into a pan-European broadcaster with 23 million customers, luring customers with live Premier League soccer and hit dramas.
He joined as Chief Financial Officer in 2004 and has led the company since 2007. Following September's auction, Darroch had overseen a near trebling in the Sky share price.
-- Bloomberg News
Teva loses appeal over MS drug patents
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. lost an appeals court bid to revive four U.S. patents on its top-selling multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone.
A trial judge was correct to invalidate the four Teva patents, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said Friday in an opinion on its electronic docket. In a companion decision, the court also upheld a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that came to the same conclusion on three of the patents.
The rulings are a victory for generic-drug makers including Novartis AG and its partner Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc., as well as Mylan NV and its partner Natco Pharma Ltd.
Copaxone is Teva's biggest product, generating $3.8 billion in 2017 sales, although North American revenue declined 46 percent in the second quarter because of competition from generics.
-- Bloomberg News
Safety group wants Hyundai, Kia recall
DETROIT -- A nonprofit auto safety group is demanding that Hyundai and Kia recall 2.9 million cars and SUVs in the U.S. because of consumer complaints that they can catch fire.
The Center For Auto Safety says there have been more than 220 complaints to the U.S. government since 2010 about fires and another 200 complaints about melted wires as well as smoke and burning odors.
The complaints involve the 2011 through 2014 Kia Sorento and Optima and the Hyundai Sonata and Santa Fe. Also included is the 2010 through 2015 Kia Soul.
The fires are being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as part of a 2017 probe into Hyundai and Kia engine failures.
Hyundai says it monitors safety concerns and acts quickly to recall defective vehicles. Kia did not immediately comment.
-- The Associated Press
U.S. alleges futures-spoofing by traders
Three commodities traders were charged by the U.S. Justice Department with orchestrating a $60 million fraud that involved spoofing and conspiring to manipulate futures contracts, according to prosecutors and court filings in Houston.
Yuchun "Bruce" Mao, a 39-year-old Chinese national, is accused of working with two other traders at his firm in a scheme to rig the purchase and sale of futures contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, according to an indictment made public on Friday. A bench warrant for Mao's arrest was issued Wednesday by a federal judge.
The two others charged in the alleged scheme, Kamaldeep Gandhi, 36, of Chicago, and Krishna Mohan, 33, of New York, were preparing to plead guilty to related charges, prosecutors said.
The charges against the trio are part of a broad U.S. crackdown on spoofing, a tactic in which traders place orders without intending to execute them to try to move prices in their favor.
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 10/13/2018